Samuel Cornelius "Sam" Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American musician, businessman, record executive, music producer, and disc-jockey, who played an important role in the emergence and development of rock and roll and rockabilly as the major form of popular music in the 1950s. He was a producer, label owner, and talent scout throughout the 1940s and 1950s.He was the founder of both Sun Studio and Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.